Dental-napkin holder



v W. F.. S'HA-W. DENTAL NAPKIN HOLDER. APPLICATION min-pic. n. 1920.

Patented Ji 14-, [1921.

INVENTQR.

WITNESS:

ATTORNEY.

PATENT OFFICE.

WALLACE F. SHAW, OF WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

DENTAL-NAPKIN HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 14,-, 1921.

Application filed December 17, 1920. Serial No. 431,328.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE F. SHAW, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Westfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Dental-Napkin Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in dental appliances, and resides in a clamp attachable to a tooth of the upper jaw, and provided with means for holding a, cotton napkin in place against the roof of the mouth, and with means for supporting a cotton roll between such tooth and the cheek, the same being of peculiar construction, together with such auxiliary and subsidiary parts and members as may be needed or desired in order to render the appliance or holder com plete in every respect, all as hereinafter set forth.

Cotton napkins and cotton rolls are employed in dental work for the purpose of absorbing the moisture in the mouth in order that the tooth which is being operated on be kept dry, and the primary object of my invention is to produce a comparatively inexpensive device or appliance which is especially designed for and capable of holding in place a dental napkin and a cotton roll, either or both, while an upper tooth is being filled, treated, or otherwise operated on, such device being capable of expeditious and easy application to and removal from any of the back teeth in the upper set, convenient, and simple both in construction and action or operation.

This holder can be applied to a tooth and removed therefrom with the aid of clamp forceps, like other dental clamping devices, and when in position does not interfere with the work of the operator, inasmuch as it is compact and the supporting parts thereof for the fabric are so located as to be out of the Way of said operator. Another object is, therefore, to provide a holder of this character which, when in place, does not obstruct the operatoror interfere with the work being performed by him at such time.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aperspectiveview of a dental napkin holder which embodies a practical form of my invention, showing the same applied to an upper tooth, and a cotton napkin and a cotton roll held in place thereby; Fig. 2, what may be termed an inside elevation of said holder; Fig. 3, a bottom plan of said holder; Fig. 4, an enlarged, sectional detail of the cone joint employed in the holder shown in the preceding views, and, Fig. 5, an enlarged, inside elevation of a modified form of the holder.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

These holders must, necessarily, be made in rights and lefts, inasmuch as a holder for the right-hand side ofthe upper jaw could not be used on the opposite side, and vice versa. The holder shown in the'drawings is for the left-hand side of the upper jaw, or a left-hand holder. A holder for the opposite side of the upper jaw, or a right-hand holder, would differ from the one shown only in the transposition of the napkinand rollholding members. Consequently, it is to be understood that my claims cover the holder whether adapted for one side or the other of the jaw, or regardless of the side of the jaw upon which any particular example of the same may be capable of being employed.

The holder shown in the first three views comprises a clamp consisting of a resilient or spring how 1, and jaws 22 at the ends of said bow, which ends are uppermost when the holder is in use, a napkin-engaging arm 3 movably connected with said clamp on one side, and .a roll support 41 extending from said clamp on the opposite side.

The spring how 1 is preferably made in the shape shown in the drawings, in order to afford the necessary amount of resiliency, without projecting too far beneath any tooth in connection with which it is used. There should, however, be suflicient clearance, between the tooth to which the clamp is at tached, when the latter is in place, and the bottom portion of the bow 1, for the convenient and practicable application of the clamp forceps by means of which said clamp is attached to and removed from the tooth. The jaws 2 are of, the proper size and shape to grasp securely the sides of the tooth, so that, when said jaws are held in engagement with such tooth by the bow 1, there is no danger of accidental displacement of the clamp. In

. the present case, each upper terminal of the bow'l'is extended forwardly, as represented at 13, and one of the jaws 2 is mounted on and rigidly attached to such extension.

The general direction of the arm 3 is inwardly from the clamp. One end of the arm 3 is provided with a cone 5 which is received in a cone-bearing 6 secured to the tion existing between the cone 5 and said bearing, aswill be well understood by those skilled in the art. The frictional resistance offered to the movementof the arm 3 in either direction about its axis in the conebearing 6, is increased or decreased by tightening or loosening the nut 7, as will be readily seen.

From the cone 5 the arms extend in a generally lateral direction, and said arm is bowed so that the freeportion thereof will fit more or less closely, or, in any event, have a similar contour to that of the roof of the mouth laterally. The arm 3 maybe made of ductile material to enable the same to be bent easily into the desired shape, or so as to give it the required curvature. At theinner or free end of the arm a loop, as 8, may be formed. The loop 8 is at the end of the downwardly projecting, inner or free terminal of the arm 3. The arm should not, of course, be of suflicient length to cause the loop 8 to be carried too low.

The support 4 isa curved member rigidly attached at its inner end to the outer. jaw 2, and projects outwardly from said jaw. Said support-is arranged with theconcave portion thereof above, so that it affords good receiving and holding means for a cotton roll.

In practice: The clamp, with the aid of a pair of clamp forceps, is attached to a tooth, as 9, when the bow 1 causes the jaws 2 to grasp said tooth so tightly that there is no liability of accidental displacement of said clamp. The clamp is attached to the tooth 9 in such a manner that the arm 3 is on the/inside and the support a on the outside of said clamp. The arm 3 is rocked downwardly in the cone-bearing 6, into the position indicated by dotted lines 33 in Fig. 1, if not already in that position, a cotton napkin, as 10, is introduced between the roof of the mouth and said arm, and the latter is rocked upwardly against the roof of the mouth, with said napkin between the roof of the mouth and the arm. The napkin 10 is thus held securely by the arm 3, which now occupies the position shown in full lines in the first view, against the roof he 9911 211. A cotton r91 1 i p a on and in th support a. The arm 3 holds the napkin 10 in position until such time as it shall be desired to remove said napkin, because of the frictional resistance afforded by the cone joint, as hereinbefore explained. hen it is desired to remove the napkin, the arm 3 is rocked downwardly again into the position indicated at 33, to release said napkin. After removing the napkin 10 and bowed part of said arm and the roof of the mouth, and to withdraw it in a corresponding manner.

The presence of the loop 8 precludes any liability of scratching or otherwise injuring the roof of the mouth, affords convenient means for rocking the arm 3 on its axis, when such arm is not a stationary member, as it is in the Fig. 5 construction, and facilitates the introduction of the napkin between the arm'and the roof of the mouth, when the former is fixed, as in the last view.

More or less change in the shape, size, construction, and arrangement of some or all of the parts of this holder may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, in

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a dental napkin holder comprising a clamp attachable-to a tooth, and an arm of ductile material extending from said clamp, said armhaving the general curvature of the roof of the mouth transversely, and adapted to be bent into closer conformity to the transverse curvature of the roof of the mouth, whereby a napkin may beheld by said arm securely against the roof of the mouth.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a dental napkin holder comprising a clamp attachableto a tooth, a napkin-holding arm extending from one side of said clamp, and

. a roll-holding member on the opposite side of said clamp.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a dental napkin holder comprising a clamp attachable to a tooth, and an arm extending from said clamp and adapted to hold a napkin agamst the roof of the mouth, said arm being movably connected with said clamp and capable of being turned downwardly away from and turned upwardly against the r I roof of the mouth; I

4:. As an improved article of manufacture, a dental napkin holder comprising a clamp attachableto a tooth, an arm adapted to hold a napkin against the roof of the mouth, and friction means to attach said arm movably to said clamp.

5. As an improved article of manufacture, a dental napkin holder comprising a clamp attachable to a tooth, an arm adapted to hold a napkin against the roof of the mouth, friction means to connect said arm movably with said clamp, and means to increase and decrease the amount of resistance of said firstnamed means.

6. The combination, in a dental napkin holder, with a clamp provided with a cone bearing, of an arm having a cone receivable in said bearing, and a nut on said arm to hold said cone in said bearing, and increase or decrease the amount of frictional resistance between the two, said arm being adapted to hold a napkin against the roof of the mouth.

7. The combination, in a dental napkin holder, of a clamp comprising a resilient member and attached tooth-engaging jaws,

a napkin-engaging arm extending from one side of said clamp, and a roll support extending from the other side of said clamp.

8. The combination, in a dental napkin holder, with a clamp comprising a resilient member and attached tootl1-engaging jaws, of an arm pivotally connected with and extending from one side of said clamp, and adapted to be rocked upwardly on its pivot to engage a napkin and hold the same against the roof of the mouth and to be rocked downwardly to release such napkin.

9. The combination, in a dental napkin holder, of a clamp comprising a resilient member and attached tooth-engaging jaws, and an arm extending from one side of said clamp, and adapted to engage a napkin and hold the same against the roof of the mouth, said arm being bent at its free terminal to form a loop which extends in both directions beyond that part of the arm which is between the clamp and the loop.

WALLACE F. SHAW.

Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS. 

